Tuxedo shoulder fit: the signs

A tuxedo shoulder fits when the seam ends exactly at the tip of your shoulder bone, the cloth over the shoulder lies flat, and the sleeve falls straight down without pulling, bulging or dimpling. The shoulder is the first thing a tailor looks at when judging a jacket, because almost everything else can be adjusted and the shoulder can hardly be touched.

Where the shoulder seam should end

Stand in front of a mirror and touch the bony point at the top of your shoulder, where the shoulder meets the arm. The jacket's shoulder seam should end right at that point. If the seam sits toward the neck, the shoulder is too narrow; if it falls out over the upper arm, the shoulder is too wide.

A tailor also looks at how the sleeve starts. With a correct shoulder the sleeve drops straight from the shoulder, forming an even curve at the sleeve head with no fold beneath it. On a tuxedo the line matters even more, because the satin lapel and the closer cut make any flaw obvious.

Three signs the shoulder does not fit

• Dimple: just below the shoulder line the cloth caves in, forming a hollow (often called a divot), which shows the shoulder is wider than yours or the sleeve head lacks cloth.
• Bulge: the corner of the shoulder sticks out past your own and cannot rest on the bone, as though a hanger were still inside. Usually the result of heavy padding or a shoulder cut too wide.
• Horizontal creasing: folds pulling across the shoulder or running from the neck toward the underarm, showing the shoulder is tight or the sleeve head is being dragged. A collar standing away from the back of the neck is another sign that the shoulder and its slope are not matched to you.

A jacket with correct shoulders lets you raise your arms comfortably without the shoulder following. If the whole body of the jacket lifts as your arm goes up, the shoulder is too tight.

Why the shoulder is the hardest part to alter

Most alterations, such as taking in the waist, shortening a sleeve or adjusting a hem, involve only a few seams. The shoulder is different. The sleeve is set into the armhole, the armhole joins the shoulder, and beneath the cloth lie the shoulder pad, the canvas that shapes the chest, the lapel and the collar. To change the shoulder the tailor must take off the sleeve, remove the padding, rebuild the structure and set the sleeve again. That is laborious, can distort the surface, and often there is not enough cloth to work with.

That is why the tailor's standing rule is to choose a jacket by its shoulders first and adjust everything else after. You can read about the common shoulder types in our piece on narrow and sloping shoulders in a tuxedo.

Checking a rented or ready-made jacket

With a rental or off-the-rack suit you can rarely change the shoulder, so you must pick the right size from the start. Follow these steps:

1. Wear the shirt you will use and stand straight, arms down. Look in the mirror: does the seam sit at the bone?
2. Button the jacket. Look from front and back. If an X-shaped crease runs from the collar toward the underarm, or the jacket is straining across the chest, change the size.
3. Raise your arms forward and then to the sides. Does the body of the jacket lift with the arms?
4. Ask someone to look from behind: there should be no horizontal crease across the upper back and no gap between collar and neck.
5. If the shoulder fits but the waist or sleeve does not, that is a good sign, because those can be altered. If the waist fits but the shoulder is wrong, choose another jacket.

Our piece on when a ready-made tuxedo is good enough looks at when off-the-rack makes sense, and you can also read about renting a tuxedo if you need one for a single occasion.

How the shoulder is judged in made-to-measure

For a made-to-measure suit the tailor measures across the shoulders from one tip to the other and observes how steeply they slope. Sloping shoulders, square shoulders, and shoulders at different heights all produce different patterns. After the first fitting the shoulder is the part examined most carefully, because once it is right, every other area becomes easy to adjust.

Book a fitting at Mon Amie

If you are unsure about your shoulders and do not know which type you are, let a tailor look in person. You can read about the bespoke tuxedo service and book a fitting at the showroom.